Portable tourist&#39;s grate



Patented Nov. 3,. 1925.

umrlau' STA TB PATENT-F roma ne .TOURISIS GnA'rn.

To all whom it may 00mm.- a

Be it known that I, MELVIN G; HENN, a citizen of the vUnited States,residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have inventednew and useful Improvements 7 following is a specification. a Thisinventionrelates to a portable tourists grate, and it is intended tobeespeciallyuseful to, persons touring in automobiles or under similarcircumstances, where the space for packing accessories is limited.Thegeneral object of the invention is to producea grate of simpleconstruction, the parts of which can be packed into a compact bundle,but which can be readily assembled so as to produce arigid gratesupported on legs above the ground. A further object of the invention isto provide a grate with legs having a special construction to facilitatetheir being driven into the ground, and also to, enable them to bereadily folded up out of the way when the grate is not set up for use. V4 Further objects of the invention will ape, pear hereinafter. e r Theinvention consists in. the novelfea-, tures, andv in the generalcombination of parts to be particularly described hereinafter,.all ofwhich contribute to produce a simple and efficient portabletourists'g'rate. A preferred embodiment of my invention will beparticularly described in the followingspecification, while the broadscope of my invention will be pointed out in the appended claims. I

In the drawing y ,7 Figure 1 is a plan of the grate,; andvrepre' in.Portable Tourists Grates, of which the c diagonal brace-- 6 which maybepermanently senting the same setup or standing, upon its legs; 7 V.Figure2 is aside elevation of one 'end of I the grate and illustratingthe construction {of the corner legs and the means forbracing "the samein position;' I

Figure 3 is a side elevation of grate with the legs folded;

Figure 4 is an end elevation showing the compact bundle which may beformed by i the parts of the grate when it has been taken The grateconsists of a grid or body'sup- :ported on four legs 1 which arepreferably ttached respectively by. pivot pins 2 nearheends' oft-W0 sidebars 13, which form the -sides ofthejgrate. VVhenthese le s l' aretlieuprigh't or vertical position" gsee Fig- Figure I ure atailextension 4'01? each leg projects P ca.-

MELVIN a. 111mm or sit. LouIsfMI-ssoUnr. i

above the plane of the grateso'as to provide 1 a point which maybestruck -by an axe, or

hammerto drive the point 5 of the leg intothe ground. I

The legis preferably provided with a secured at one'end; anddisconnectible at the brace (i -is, secured by a pivot pin or rivet/7fto the leg, and at, the other end, isfprovided with 'an opening 8-whichfits overa stud or pin 9 which projects from the outer face 1. I

of theside bar; ;This brace -.6 should be,

constructed of strap iron or steel and be so constructed that it tendsto press its face against the outer face 3 of the side bar13. I

However, it is flexible'enough to permit the 1 1 end of thebrace to bedetachedfrom the Stud 7 9 simply by pulling the same outwardly.

After this has, beendone, the legs maybe folded against the sides'ofthegrate (see TVhile this improvement described: above,

may be applied to a grate oflany kind,I,I v;

prefer to construct the grid or .grate ofa plurality of substantiallyparallel grid bars 10. I These'grid bars are simply rungs or roundiron'bars. They are preferably disposed substantially parallel andequidistant I from each other.

In order to hold these bars spaced apart,

I providea pair of oppositely disposeddistance bars 11, and these barsare provided with means for engaging the grid bars. In

These distance bars c the present instance, the distance bars 11 7 aresimply provided'with openings lat the points 12, through which the gridbars pass. p n laj em 0v Means is provided. for preventing longitudinalm'ovementof the grid bars, and for this purpose, I provide a pair jofside bars 13, each sidebar l3 corresponding to one .ofthe distance.bars- 11 and extending paral-v lel therewith. These-side bar s 13 simplyabut against thev ends of the grid bars, I

provide' ineans for rigidly securing the side bar's, if desired, means18 also provided for secur ng the distance bars against movement. Eelthis purpose, I prefer to provide two tierods '14 and 15 at one end ofthe grid, andv simlilar tie-rods 16 and 17 at theother end-i. Thetie-rods 14 and 16 constitute means fer securing the side bare-13together. For this purpose, the ends of the tie-rods 14:

and 16 are threaded and extend through the side bars. The-projectingends of these tie-rods constitute the pivot studs 2 for the legs 1. Thetie-rods 14 and-- 16 may be provided with nuts 18 near each end againstwhich the side bars 13 seat, and on the outer.

cured rigidly together by means of the tierods and 17, which may passthrough. their ends, and the tie-rods 15 and 17 may be threaded toreceive clamping nuts" 20,

which seat against the opposite faces of the distance bars to hold thesame in position;

It should be understood that all the grid bars and the tie-rods arepreferably constructed of round iron or steel, and the other bars areconstructed of flat metal or strap iron. 1

If the tourist'has suflicient space to carry the grate simply with thelegs folded into the plane of the. grate, as illustrated in Figure 3,the grate may be carried in a car folded in this way.

However, if desired, the tourist may take the grate completely apart andlay therods and the side bars together in a parallel ar rangement sothat they may be tied into a bundle by means of cords, such asthe cord21, as" illustrated in Figure 4, which shows such a bundle as viewed inend elevation.

It is understood that the embodiment of the invention described hereinis only one of themany ei'nbodiment's my invention may take, and I donot wish to be limited in the practice of my invention nor in my claims,to the particular embodiment set forth.

What I claim is:

1. A portable tourists grate consisting of a plurality of substantiallyparallel grid bars, a pair of oppositely disposed distance bars"extending transversely to the grid barsand having means forholdingthegrid bars against lateral movement, a side bar corresponding to eachdistance bar operating to hold the grid bars againstlongitudinalmoveme'rit', and means for securing the side bars and thedistance" bars together. v,

2; A; portable t'dll-IlStS- rate consistingfiof a plurality ofsubstantially parallel grid bars, a pair of oppositely disposed distancebars, a pair of oppositely disposed distance bars extendingtransversely'to the grid bars and having means for receiving the gridbars to hold the" same against lateral movemerit, a sidebarcorresponding to each dis tance bar and abutting the ends of the gridbars to hold the same against longitudinal movement, and means forsecuring the side bars and the distance bars together. y

45. A'portable tourlsts grate consisting of a plurality of substantiallyparallelgrid bars, a pair out oppositely disposed-distance barsextending transversely to the grid bars and having substantiallyequidistant openings therethrough to receive the grid, bars, andoperating to hold the same against lateral movement, a tie-rod at eachend of the grate, and means for securing the same to the ends of thedistance bars;

5. 'A portable tou'rists grate consisting of a plurality ofsubstantially parallel grid bars, a pair of oppositely disposed distancebars-extending transversely to the grid bars,

distance bars having openings receiving the grid bars for holding thesame against lateral movement, side bars disposed sub stantiallyparallel respectively with the distance bars abutting against the endsof the" grid bars and operating to prevent longitudinal movement of thesame, and a tie-rod ateach end of the grate for securing the side' barstogether.

6. A portable tourists grate consisting of a plurality of substantiallyparallel grid bars, a pair of oppositely disposed distance barsextending transversely to the grid bars and having means for holding thegrid bars against lateral movement, a side bar corresponding to eachdistance bar abutting against the ends of the grid bars operating" tohold the same against. longitudinalnmove I ment, and tie-rods connectingthe" side bars my-handa and, the distance bars and securing thesame, Intestimony whereof, I -.hai e hcreunto set' s.

